


Behind Closed Doors

by DGCatAniSiri



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 08:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9064432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DGCatAniSiri/pseuds/DGCatAniSiri
Summary: Steve and Sam haven't been public about their relationship. An unexpected video changes that.





	

Sam knew that this was going to be A Day when he noticed that the conversations were stopping when he walked by. Sure, it was technically the ‘Avengers Tower,’ but in practice, a lot of Stark’s business dealings went through the place. Side effect of it having been originally built as part of his industrial business. Plus SHIELD, in its new incarnation, had a tendency to want to operate through it, since there wasn’t exactly a centralized location for the organization anymore. Despite the Avengers all having their own rooms at the building, most of them kept homes off-site anyway, treating the place more like a hotel rather than a place to live. It made it convenient for SHIELD to operate out of it, since they wouldn’t be stepping on the toes of most of the Avengers who were trying to go about their lives.

All of that was beside the fact. The point was, conversations were stopping as he walked by. And the looks... There was something that they knew that he didn’t, and it was something that was catching attention. And specifically, it involved him. 

His first impulse was to ignore it all – whatever it was, it was probably some really juicy piece of gossip that didn’t deserve his attention because of how obscenely wild the rumors tended to be, and how they were rarely worth the effort to debunk them.

That impulse lasted until he could hear people starting to whisper when they thought he wasn’t paying attention. They were indistinct whispers, and the more he heard, even though he really couldn’t make anything out, he had that sensation in the back of his mind that it was about him.

Then the text came.

**Natasha: u ok?**

Natasha Romanoff’s close circle was limited to those on the Avengers team. And when she expressed concern – genuine concern, not the gentle joking that poked at your soft spots – then there was something legitimate about it. 

**Sam: Yeah... Reason I shouldn’t be?**

**Natasha: havent checkd email?**

Sam swore not to be like most people and not immediately check his e-mail in response.

He lasted a full minute, and believed he deserved due accolades for it.

Finding the e-mail she meant wasn’t difficult – apparently, it had been forwarded to everyone on SHIELD’s mailing lists, which Sam couldn’t remember signing up for, but...

When he saw it, his eyes went wide.

“Shit...” He drew the word out to an almost obscene length.

**Natasha: seen it now?**

**Sam: How?**

**Natasha: dont know starks on it**

**Natasha: Steve?**

Most people wouldn’t pay mind to the sudden appearance of a capital letter. Sam knew it was a sign that she was genuinely concerned – when she broke out in proper grammar and capitalization, not making intentional errors in her texts, it meant she was really trying to look out for her friends, given the small number that made up that group.

Steve was the million dollar question. He’d certainly gotten it as well, as the team leader of the Avengers. But Steve didn’t always check his e-mail, preferring to stick to checking e-mail on his computer rather than a phone (as much as he adapted to life in the twenty-first century, Steve Rogers liked to use his phone as JUST a phone), though if there were an emergency, he would check it on his way to the tower.

There was a good chance he hadn’t seen it yet. Which meant he was coming here without a clue.

**Sam: That could be a problem.**

***

Steve knew something was off. People underestimated him, given his seventy year ice nap. Technology had advanced so fast while he’d been gone, and a lot of people around him seemed to believe that, because he had been born “in the twenties” (Steve had given up pointing out that it was 1918 and let people round it), he wouldn’t understand the fact that a device the size of his palm could access the knowledge of the world and connect him to almost any individual around it. He understood quite well, actually. 

Though he DID have a tendency to allow people to hold on to that belief, just in the name of allowing them to underestimate him. Plus the looks on their faces when he revealed he knew exactly what he was doing was always amusing. Based on the way Thor had spoken of Asgardian technology, he figured that the other Avenger often did the same thing. 

That underestimation was his way of life much of the time. Yet right now, he started to wonder about it, given that the way that people were looking at him. The overwhelming sensation he got from the stares was a thought of them questioning... something. 

His phone buzzed as he entered the elevator. 

**Sam: Please tell me you haven’t checked your email.**

Now, Steve got really concerned. People questioning something as they saw him and now Sam sending him a warning? Steve got immediately concerned – was it Bucky, had he surfaced, still with HYDRA conditioning controlling him, worse, was he dead? A dozen question whirled through Steve’s mind, bringing with them various nightmare scenarios.

**Steve: Not yet. Why?**

**Sam: Where are you?**

**Steve: Tower elevator, heading to the break room.**

**Sam: Already there I’ll meet you.**

***

Sam was aware that, in many ways, they were overreacting. This kind of thing had been a staple of the digital age. It’s not like it was new or even all that unexpected. Though, really, it was a problem in other ways, and that just because it was, in theory, not unexpected, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t something that would be an issue, or even just bother the unsuspecting.

When Steve entered the break room, though, Sam realized that they may have all reacted in a way that made it easy for him to go straight to the worst case scenario. 

“What’s going on, exactly?” Steve asked. Sam could tell from his tone of voice that he thought it was the Winter Soldier performing more of HYDRA’s dirty deeds, or maybe something more personal, like Peggy Carter passing away. 

Sam awkwardly cleared his throat, suddenly recognizing how out of proportion the reaction had been. “It’s probably not as bad as you were thinking but, uh... It’s something that we are gonna need to do some damage control on.”

“Sam, what’s going on?” The tension had slightly eased – Steve knew that if Sam wasn’t hitting him with the hammer yet, it wasn’t Bucky or Peggy. Still, the way that Sam was avoiding getting to the point probably was not helping.

So Sam sighed and pulled out his phone. “So everyone on the SHIELD mailing list got an e-mail this morning. An e-mail consisting of a link to a video.”

Steve waited a moment, then had to ask the next question. “A video of what, exactly?”

In answer, Sam just pulled out his phone and hit the link himself to start the playback.

The video was taking place in a nicely arranged room. It took Steve a moment, not having expected it, but he realized it was the room he took when he was at the Tower – they all had rooms here, even those with off-site apartments and (attempts at) lives, meant for when things were too crazy to go back to what was considered home.

Then a body stepped into frame. A very naked body, given that the angle was about crotch level. And it was also very familiar, because were Steve to take off his clothes right now, he’d see the same thing. 

The image on the screen pulled back, refocusing, allowing the viewer to be certain that, yes, this was Steve Rogers. There was a smile on his face, and, a moment later, an explanation appeared as an equally naked Sam Wilson appeared. The two shared a long and languid kiss before Sam gently pushed Steve backwards towards the bed, intention obvious. The camera lingered on them as Sam took Steve’s erection in hand, causing the blonde to throw his head back in what was, despite the missing audio, obvious an act of ecstasy. 

Steve knew he was probably turning red at the thought of him and Sam’s activities in the bedroom being public, but the embarrassment of the public seeing the private was nothing compared to a sense of irritation as his mind processed all of the implications of the video. “What are you most angry about here? Because I’m not exactly happy that Tony has cameras in our rooms.”

“That’s a security precaution, meant in case of some supervillain using mind control, like what happened with Burton and Loki, or Wanda in general.” Steve had missed Tony walking into the room entirely, focused on the video. Mentally, Steve could offer him a point on that regard – mind control was, apparently, something that they had to be concerned about as Avengers.

Sam shot the billionaire a dirty look. “Not justification for putting cameras in our rooms and not telling us.”

“They weren’t supposed to be active unless we fought another telepath or something of the sort. Though I will point out, you knowing about them defeats the purpose of them being a monitor for out of character behavior.” That did nothing to lessen the glare Sam was giving him. Tony cleared his throat and looked to Steve, though Steve’s glare was rather similar. “I, uh, I’m trying to find the source of this. I think I’ve got it narrowed down to Queens, actually, so...” He tried to find another thing to add, though both Sam and Steve were not looking at all pleased with him.

“Tony, you probably ought to go back to the business of finding out who leaked this,” Steve suggested.

Tony nodded, though made no effort to turn back to the elevator. “Right, just, uh... Let me point out that I genuinely would never have used the cameras for... this purpose. Also, uh, congratulations? Because I had no idea that-”

“That was kind of the point, Tony,” Steve said. “We weren’t trying to be a spectacle.”

“Some of us don’t want to market off of a sex tape,” Sam added.

“For the record, I’m not marketing off of mine either. That was... not really the subject at hand, and, I oughta... go and...” Finally, Tony made his exit, leaving Steve and Sam alone.

Steve slumped onto the couch. “So... I suppose the cat’s out of the bag.”

“Unless you want to try and convince people that it’s not your distinctively Dorito-shaped back in that video, but I think there’s little chance of that.” Sam took a seat next to Steve. “So, what exactly do you think we should do about this?”

“I suppose you’re against filming a sequel?” Steve asked, flashing Sam a shit-eating grin. 

It at least earned a laugh. “I mean we COULD probably make some money off of it, though I’d feel like a hypocrite given how I just gave Stark hell about sex tapes.” Sam’s smile faded, though, as the full implications started settling in. “So... We’re public now. Cuz if people seeing that video aren’t forwarding it or talking about it on Twitter... Yeah, I’d probably ground me if I were that delusional.” Such was, in Sam’s experience, human nature.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, I know better than to think that myself.” Not that it wouldn’t be nice if people would respect the fact that this was a private and intimate moment between two people that had been abruptly and rudely made public, but that was expecting something of the world that didn’t really exist. “But you know, it’s really no one’s business but ours.”

“Think that’s gonna work when the media starts talking about this?” Sam could already picture the headlines. Fox News was going to have an aneurism, not that they didn’t every time Captain America, the living embodiment of “the good old days,” spoke out against whatever right wing bullshit was on tap for the day. Actually, Sam kinda wanted to be a fly on the wall when any of the big names found out that Captain America was in an interracial homosexual relationship. The mental image was more than a little funny, though Sam would probably share that thought with Steve later.

Steve nodded in acknowledgement of the point. “Probably not. But I’m not particularly ready to go around, telling people what they don’t need to know. We’re together, I’m not ashamed of that. But it’s our business. Not anyone else’s.”

Sometimes, Sam could really appreciate the way Steve thought about things. It was refreshing, given the way that the world he knew tended to work. They weren’t likely to get the peace that Steve wanted, but it certainly sounded nice. 

“Can we really get away with not talking about this? I mean, I can already hear the headlines getting written.”

“They can write what they want. Does it really matter?”

Sam thought about correcting his impression of how the media worked in the 21st century, then realized that Steve had been dealing with it for the last four years. He knew all about the twenty-four hour news cycle and the tabloid journalism masquerading as legitimate reporting. He was considered a cultural icon. He was field leader for the Avengers. He’d brought down a government agency in full view of the world. The reporters didn’t really like the idea of giving him even a moment to think.

In short, Steve Rogers had never cared about what the image the rest of the world was holding of him. The media could craft something for their ideas of what Steve Rogers was, but he knew the truth, and that was what he really cared to focus on. 

“I suppose it doesn’t.” Sam reached down and twined their fingers together. “At least, not while we’re together.”

Steve smiled and kissed Sam. When he pulled back, there was a smirk on his lips. “Though we probably should make sure there aren’t any cameras in our room before we end up with a sequel anyway.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking we’re gonna stick to our apartments for a while, huh?”


End file.
